this morning, the president arrived in his home state of hawaii for the holidays. before leaving, he told members of congress to cool down. have some eggnog and christmas cookies and come back and make a deal. >> nobody can get 100% of what they want. and this is not simply a contest between parties, in terms of who looks good and who doesn't. there are real world consequences to what we do here. >> reporter: while members of the house left town, there was a gridlock in front of a fireplace. >> i'm stuck in washington, trying to prevent my fellow kentuckians from having to shell out more money to uncle sam next year. >> reporter: the president met with the democratic leader in the senate and house speaker john boehner. but it is a wounded speaker of the house, who was deserted by his fellow republicans when he tried to extend tax rates for everyone but millionaires. >> are you quitting? >> absolutely not. and we're prepared to come back, if needed. >> reporter: a new abc news/"washington post" poll shows 53% of americans believe republicans need less conservative p